Saturday, February 23, 2008

Boren's Book Poised to Make a Mark

OU President David Boren hopes his new book, A Letter to America, will be "a powerful wake up call to all Americans."

That, at least, is how Boren's book is being touted in a full-page ad in The New York Review of Books. The ad includes blurbs from three prominent people, including historian David McCullough and PBS newsman Jim Lehrer.

The ad goes on:"A Letter to America boldly faces the question of how long the United States, with only 6 percent of the world's population, can remain a global superpower. Boren explains with unsparing clarity why the country is at a crossroads and why decisive action is urgently needed."

Boren's book will be published in March by—who else?—OU Press. At 120 pages, it's a slim volume. It will sell for $14.95 and, to Boren's credit, the proceeds will benefit an OU scholarship fund and the OU Press.

We haven't seen the book, so we have no idea as to its merits. But McCullough praises Boren's ideas as "wise, timely, and constructive." Lehrer adds this endorsement: "I say, Amen, David Boren."